The same, only different:Doing management in the intersection between work and private life for men and women in small-scale enterprises

The aim of this article is to elucidate how male and female managers of small-scale enterprises in Norway and Sweden relate to and experience the intersection between work and private life. A qualitative content analysis was adopted to explore interviews with 18 managers. The analysis resulted in three primary categories: conflict as a part of the deal, using management to construct balance, and management identity contributing to enrichment. A key theme that emerged was doing management. Both men and women reproduced masculine values in describing their management identities and in explaining how they enacted management. This clear identification was used to legitimate conflict, construct balance and explain the interaction between work and private life as enriching. How the managers enacted gender emerged primarily in how they related to family responsibilities and their feelings of guilt in relation to home and children

Food insecurity and associated factors among households in Maputo City

Food insecurity (FI) is a global concern and is one of the main causes of malnutrition in low- and middle-income countries. In Mozambique, the burden of FI and how various factors contribute to FI is not well known. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of FI and its associated factors in southern Mozambique. Data from 1842 household heads in Maputo City were analyzed in a cross-sectional design. Food insecurity was measured using a modified version of the US Department of Agriculture Household Food Security scale, and its association with socio-demographic factors was assessed through multiple regressions. Altogether, 79% of the households were food insecure; of these, 16.6% had mild FI, 28.1% moderate and 34.4% severe FI. The study revealed that low-income households, those with less educated heads, and those engaged in informal work were significantly more prone to FI. Likewise, dietary diversity and the number of meals were also significant predictors of FI. These findings suggest the need for decent work and job creation, which calls for joint efforts from government, the private sector, and international institutions. Furthermore, these key drivers should be considered in the development of public health policies and programs designed to alleviate household FI and malnutrition in Mozambique

Perceptions of health and wellbeing among employees in a work integration social enterprise in Sweden

Background: Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs) constitute an important vehiclefor providing employment opportunities for disadvantaged groups.Objective: The goal of this qualitative case study is to explore perceptions of health andwellbeing among employees working in a WISE located in the Gävleborg region, in eastcentral Sweden.Methods: Data were gathered using 16 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with thesocial enterprise employees.Results: Findings were categorized into three main categories: the importance of financialindependence and societal benefits; team spirit and a sense of belonging; and improvedquality of life and wellbeing.Conclusion: The participants perceived that working in the WISE gave them a feeling offreedom and increased their self-esteem because of the possibility to earn an income.Also, they were satisfied with their job (e.g., with regard to work quality and flexibility)and believed that their work contributed to society. Moreover, through working in a WISE,the participants felt a sense of belonging and togetherness through interaction with coworkersand managers, and an improved quality of life for themselves and their families

Modern working life and inclusion

Working life occupies a considerable part of life for most people and is therefore of great importance to public health. Besides work environment factors, employment conditions and the possibilty to balance work and leisure are of importance to individual health. Working environment conditions and the health of individuals are also important issues for the development and growth of organizations and regions. Health in working life is therefore a special target in several European and Swedish policy documents. In the Europe 2020 strategy it is pointed out that ensuring quality of work and employment is a core element for achieving competitiveness and sustainability. According to the community strategy on health and safety at work, good health at work helps improve public health in general and also the productivity and competitiveness of businesses. In a recent Swedish governmental report addressing a renewed work environment policy it is stated that the positive and health promoting effects of a work environment must be more visible. Furthermore, workplace problems of health and safety exact a high cost for social protection systems and therefore workers need to be provided with suitable working conditions if their general wellbeing is to be enhanced. Working environment and employment relations are also important when discussing social determinants for health and health equity in working life.Published: 25 September 2012</p

Healthy performance in small enterprises : studies of organizational determinants

This thesis presents explorative studies aimed at contributing to more knowledge about relations between organizational factors such as aspects of leadership, learning, psychosocial working environment and quality, and relations between these factors and outcomes related to organizational and health performance, in small enterprises. The main focus is not on particular relations in isolation, but on a whole set of factors and the relations between these. The background of the studies is that several public authorities and researchers have discussed that a good working environment and work organization could be related to increased workplace health and organizational performance. However, only a few of all proposals have been transformed into actions, although small enterprises are seen to have difficulties to carry on development processes due to limited resources and knowledge of such processes. The presented studies and analysis are two-level, using both organizational level data for fifty-two enterprises and individual data for the leaders and co-workers (1090 individuals). The empirical findings give support for probable links between healthy work organizational factors and outcomes related to organizational and health performance. Other findings are that several organizational factors are inter-related, and that it is possible to find grouping of enterprises on two general dimensions. This may give support to those working with a concept-driven or holistic change strategy by integrating several aspects, in small enterprises.Godkänd; 2003; 20070216 (ysko

Health and performance in small enterprises : studies of organizational determinants and change strategy

The present thesis focuses on relations between work organizational factors and outcomes related to health and performance, and how these factors and outcomes are related to change strategies in small enterprises. Reasons for this work are the growing interest in entrepreneurship, small business development, statements to the effect that small enterprises lack adequate resources and competence needed for successful management of workplace change processes and fragmented small business research about mentioned relations. The thesis comprises four empirical studies with a total sample of 118 small enterprises and 50 small public workplaces that include a total of 1206 co-workers and leaders, and one more theoretically based study. Data was collected by the use of questionnaires, structured interviews and by register sources about economical outputs. Correlation analyses presented in Paper II showed strong or rather strong relationships between the outcome indicators related to health and performance. The relations between these outcomes and indicators of assumed determinant organizational factors resulted in a rather large number of relationships (Paper I, II and V). A general result is that there are more strong relationships between determinants and performance than between determinants and health. However, there are strong relations between, on the one hand, leadership indicators and team spirit and, on the other hand, health. Structural analyses in two studies presented in Paper I and II resulted in the identification of six components. Thus, it was possible to group indicators into larger "bundles" which have similarities to some results for larger enterprises. In one study (Paper II), analyses using multidimensional scaling resulted in a grouping of enterprises with high positions versus enterprises with low positions on two main dimensions. Results in one study (Paper IV) showed that studied micro-enterprises attached less priority to goals related to workplace health and work organization compared to the studied public workplaces. The micro- enterprises attached more priority to goals connected with the physical working environment, production and quality development. In another study (Paper V) different change strategy approaches were studied with a longitudinal design. The results concerning changes of determinants and outcomes, after versus before workplace related interventions indicates that change processes with a broad learning strategy and high top management involvement can apply to small enterprises, and help to improve their health and performance. This is partly in line with the discussion in Paper III about the need of integrated planning and participative approaches in workplace change processes. The thesis findings point at the importance of organizational factors and health related aspects for small business development.Godkänd; 2006; 20061205 (haneit)</p

Kvinnliga ledares arbetsvillkor i en glesbygdskommun – oglamorösa och hindrande för hälsofrämjande insatser?

Många arbetsplatser i offentlig sektor, inte minst i verksamheter med människor, är karakteriserade av hög sjukfrånvaro och de psykosociala arbetsförhållandena har försämrats särskilt för kvinnligt anställda. Syftet med föreliggande studie är att undersöka hur kvinnliga ledare i en glesbygdskommun upplever sina arbetsvillkor och förutsättningar för att genomföra hälsofrämjande insatser. Intervjuer genomfördes med tjugo kvinnliga ledare och resultaten analyserades med en innehållsanalys. Resultaten pekar på oglamorösa arbetsvillkor för ledarna och på stora behov av att förbättra deras villkor och hälsa, och på strategier för att undanröja hinder för hälsofrämjande insatser.  Municipal workplaces have high levels of sickness absence, and deterioration of the psychosocial work environment has been most pronounced for women and employees in this sector of working life. This study explore how female leaders in one rural municipality experience their working conditions and prerequisites to carry out workplace health promotion measures. Interviews with twenty female leaders were carried out. A qualitative approach with content analysis was used to indentify central processes as perceived by individual leaders. The analyses confirm the need for improvements in the prerequisites for female leaders in public human service organizations. It is important to focus to a greater degree on leaders’ working conditions and health, and to remove identified hinders for workplace health promotion processes

Kvinnliga ledares arbetsvillkor i en glesbygdskommun – oglamorösa och hindrande för hälsofrämjande insatser?

Många arbetsplatser i offentlig sektor, inte minst i verksamheter med människor, är karakteriserade av hög sjukfrånvaro och de psykosociala arbetsförhållandena har försämrats särskilt för kvinnligt anställda. Syftet med föreliggande studie är att undersöka hur kvinnliga ledare i en glesbygdskommun upplever sina arbetsvillkor och förutsättningar för att genomföra hälsofrämjande insatser. Intervjuer genomfördes med tjugo kvinnliga ledare och resultaten analyserades med en innehållsanalys. Resultaten pekar på oglamorösa arbetsvillkor för ledarna och på stora behov av att förbättra deras villkor och hälsa, och på strategier för att undanröja hinder för hälsofrämjande insatser.  Municipal workplaces have high levels of sickness absence, and deterioration of the psychosocial work environment has been most pronounced for women and employees in this sector of working life. This study explore how female leaders in one rural municipality experience their working conditions and prerequisites to carry out workplace health promotion measures. Interviews with twenty female leaders were carried out. A qualitative approach with content analysis was used to indentify central processes as perceived by individual leaders. The analyses confirm the need for improvements in the prerequisites for female leaders in public human service organizations. It is important to focus to a greater degree on leaders’ working conditions and health, and to remove identified hinders for workplace health promotion processes